Rotary engine



F. 5. ROGERS ROTARY ENGINE Filed Jul'y l4 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

S. R BERS FRFINKV 72% m ATTORNEY".

March 9 1926. 1,576,361

F. s. ROGERS ROTARY ENGINE Filed July 1 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

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R ATTORNEY 1,576,361 F. s. ROGERS ROTARY ENGINE Filed July 14 1924 s sheets-sheet s INVENTOR. FRHNK 's. ROGERS BY a v ATTORNEY...

Patented Mar. 9, 1926.

SUNETED s'r FRANK SJROGER S, OF COWELYL, CALIFORNIA.

ROTARY ENGINE.

Application filed July 14, 1924. Serial No. 725,943.

T 0 (LE whom it may concern/.- 1

Be it known that I, FRANK S. Itocnns, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cowell, in the county of Contra Costa, and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in rotary engines and has particular reference to an internal combustion engine.

.The principal object of this invention is to provide an engine which will have a greater number ofv explosions per revolution, a larger'stroke and consequently more power per revolution.

Another object is to reduce the number of working parts. 7

A still further object is to increase the speed, and reduce the weight per horse power and to further decrease the amount of vibration incident to explosive engines.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure 1 is a vertical cross section taken on the line 11 of Figure 4, looking in the direction of the arrow A,

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 looking .in the opposite direction to the arrow A,

Figure 3 discloses the construction of the packing rings, and

Figure 4 is a ve'tical cross section of my engine. y a

In the accompanying drawings wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numerals 5 and 6 refer to two substantially semi-circular castings adapted to be bolted together as at 7 and 8. The casting 6 is provided with supporting lugs 9 and 11. These castings are each provided with a water space as shown at 12 and 13, respectively, Within which the customary cooling medium may be circulated. Each casting is further provided with a cored space as shown at 14, which forms the cylinder within which a plurality of pistons 16 and 17 are adapted to travel.

The pistons 16 are preferably formed integral with the rim 18 of spokes 19 having a hub 21 which is keyed as at 22 to, a

shaft 23. This shaft is supported in suitable bearings formed on the castings .5 and 6.

Thepistonsl? are connected to the rim 24 by spokes 26 having a hub 27 and freely rotatable upon the shaft 23. The rims of these spokes are in intimate contact with each other as shown at 28. and to prevent leakage of gas ,tlierebetween, I. provide packing rings 29. Similar packing rings 31 are carried upon the rim 18 for the. purpose of preventing the leakage of gas between the rim and its contact with the castings 5 and6. V l l Similar rings 32 are provided for pre venting leakage of gas betweenthe rim 24 and its contact-,with the castings 5 and 6. The pistons mounted upon eachxrim overlap the opposite. rim asv shown in Figure 4.

Lugs 33 and 34 are formedupon two of the spokes 26, which lugs serve to position a rack bar 36 having slots 37 formed therein, through which screws 38 pass, which screws serve toguide reciprocal movement of therack bar 36.

c A roller 39 is mounted upon the end of the rack bar and adapted to travelin a cam 41, which cam is secured to-the castings 5 and 6, as best shown in Figure 4. This cam has a structure best illustrated in Figure 2. At 40 I have shown a gearkeyed to the shaft 23 which, gear meshes with the rack bar 36. p i

The customary spark plugs are positioned in the castings'5 and 6 as shown at 42 and 43, respectively. An. explosive charge I is admitted to the engine from a carburetor 44 through a manifold 46, which manifold connects with intake ports 47 Exhaust ports 48 connect with the exhaust manifold 49 in the customary manner. By referring to Figure 3, it will be noted that I have illustrated the packing ring construction where I have shown oil grooves 51 and a spring 52 for keeping the ring in contact with the wall of the casting 5. It is, of course, understood that a plurality of these springs are provided at suitable intervals.

The manner of operating my device is as follows Assuming that the entire device has been assembled, a rotary motion upon the crank 54 will cause the shaft 23 to revolve carrying with it the hub 21, spokes 29, rim 18- and pistons 16. At the same time the gear V 40 will endeavor to move the rack bar 36 which movement, however, will be limited by the contact of the roller 39 in thecam 11. The result of this crank will then be that assuming that the piston 16 on the right hand side of the drawing of Figure 1 has just passeed the intake port, the piston 17 will, at this time, be over the exhaust port so as to close the same, resulting in a charge being drawn throughpthe intake port. At this time the action between the gearAtO and the rack bar 36 will be such that the pistons 17 will be held in the dotted line position of Figure 1, until the piston 17 has passed substantially half-way toward the spark plug or firing position. From this point to the point directly belowthe spark plug, theaction between the gear 40 and the rack bar. 36.will cause the following piston 17 to travel at the same speed as the piston. 16, being considered.

The action'of the cam will now cause the piston 17 to move more :rapidly than the piston 16, thus compressing the charge between the pistons 16 and 17. During this 'compressionperiod the piston 16flVlll move to its dotted line position at the top of Figure 1 andthe piston 17 will have reached its dotted line position at the top of the figure. At this time the explosion takes place and the rack bar is now in such a position with respect, to the cam that the tendency of the gear to rotate will be practically locked, thus holdingthe piston 1'7 against explosive action, thus forcing the piston 16 on its course. The burned gas will, of course, be carried toward the exhaust port 4-8 and shortly after the piston 16 passes the exhaust port, the cam action will then have caused the piston 17 to have speeded up so as to compress the exhaust gases or in other words force them out of the exhaust ort. p In brief, the action is "one in which a plurality of pairs of pistons move in a circular course one set of pistonsat a sub--' stantially uniform speed and the other set of pistons at a varying speed, thereby caus-' ing the pairs of pistons to approach each other and separate twice in each explosive cycle. I

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape,

mounted onthe rims of'each ofsaid wheels,

said pistons overlapping the rim of the opposite wheel, a cam mounted adjacent one of said wheels, a segmental gear keyed to said shaft, a rack slidably held on one of, said wheels, said rack having a roller en-' gaging said cam for the purpose of causing the wheel to which said rack is attached to move at a varying speed with respect to the movement of the other of said wheels.

2. In a rotary engine a circular explosive chamber, a shaft centrally positioned with respect to said explosive chamber, a pair of wheels positioned on said shaft, one of said wheels being keyed to said shaft, said wheels having contacting rims, pistons mounted on the rims ofeach of said wheels, said pistons overlapping the rim of the opposite wheel, a cam mounted adjacent one of said wheels, a segmental gear keyed to said shaft, a rack slidably held on one of said wheels, said rack having a roller engaging said cam for the purpose of causing the wheel to which said rack is attached to move at a varying speed with respect to the movement of the other of said wheels, and ,portsformed in said explosive chamber for the purpose of admitting an "explosive mixture to said chamber.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

FRANK S. 7 ROGERS. 

